Review the ideas set forth in Aristotle's Poetics about the necessary components of a tragedy and apply these ideas to a tragic work, such as Oedipus the King or Puff's The Spanish Armada.

In 1776, Sheridan purchased an interest in the Drury Lane Theatre from David Garrick, one of the most highly praised actors of his day. Research the history of the Drury Lane Theatre and how it contributed to eighteenth-century drama as a whole.

Puff's The Spanish Armada is set during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I but had echoes for Sheridan's audience of a possible contemporary crisis. To what degree did Sheridan's audiences feel the threat of a foreign invasion?

At the end of Puff's play, Sheridan offers a number of stage directions that broadly outline what the audience sees during the climactic battle scene. How would you stage this battle and the "procession of...